Space solution for Pauley: Outdoor concourse

The expansion of Pauley Pavilion at UCLA will showcase a new outdoor concourse.

The patio and open-air concessions have been a part of the Pauley Pavilion experience since the arena opened in 1965, but it will be “formalized” by putting up a portable gate system on game days to enclose the space as part of the south concourse, said Ken Weiner, UCLA’s senior associate athletic director. Those gates will also serve as one of seven entrances to the arena.

A rendering shows the refurbished Pauley in a central spot on UCLA’s campus.Photo by: NBBJ

The $136 million project to expand the historic arena has been restricted by its location at the center of campus, at the crossroads for students walking to class. There were limits on how far the arena could expand without permanently blocking those pathways.

There were also limitations on the building’s south side, just 30 feet from UCLA’s football practice field, said Tim Lambert, senior project manager for NBBJ, the architect designing the expansion.

To meet those challenges, NBBJ designed a flexible concourse on Pauley Pavilion’s south side. Four vertical sliding doors, each measuring 11 feet high and 32 feet wide, can be rolled up, leading to an outdoor patio space with food concessions.

UCLA got ideas for the new format from US Airways Center’s Bud Light Paseo, an outdoor bar and entertainment space, Weiner said. Michael Hallmark, the architect in charge of that project for the Phoenix Suns, was a UCLA consultant in the early stages of Pauley’s renovation.

Inside the arena, the Pavilion Club is a new 12,000-square-foot space one level below the main concourse reserved for alumni and donors. The arena opened without a large hospitality lounge dedicated to UCLA’s biggest basketball boosters.

The seating bowl has been reconfigured and expanded to 13,800 seats, an increase of 1,000 over the old setup. The basketball court was off-center in Pauley’s initial design, and the court was shifted to the center of the floor, which freed up space to install more seats on the north and south sides, Lambert said.

Daktronics is producing a new center-hung video board and LED ribbon boards valued at $3 million.

The expanded Pauley Pavilion is set to open in mid-October. The project is required to meet green building standards by achieving LEED silver certification and could reach gold, one level above the requirement, Lambert said.